The devastating cyberattack launched against Sony Pictures was an act of vandalism and not grounds to start a war, according to U.S. President Barack Obama.
Sen. John McCain countered Obama's comments, stating that he doesn't think the president understands what the new face of warfare looks like.
After weeks of conservative remarks on the probe, the FBI recently pointed to North Korea as the sponsor of the hack that leaked sensitive employee information and internal memos from Sony Pictures Entertainment. In light of the findings, the U.S. government's stance on how the country should proceed has been split.
In interviews broadcast in succession on CNN on Dec. 21, the president and the senator asserted their positions on how they believe Washington should move forward as Sony Pictures reels from an attack that is suspected of being sponsored by North Korea. That's even if North Korea sponsored the attacks against Sony Pictures, according to Obama.
"No, I don't think it was an act of war," stated Obama. "I think it was an act of cyber-vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionally, as I said."
In the digital age, the world is vulnerable to disruption from both state and nonstate actors, Obama said. When state actors are at play, the U.S. takes it "very seriously," the president noted.
"We have to treat it like we would treat, you know, the incidents of crime in our countries," stated Obama. "When other countries are sponsoring it, we take it very seriously. But that's something that I think we can manage through, as long as public, private sector is working together."
Following Obama's spot, McCain, R-Ariz., stated in his interview that he felt the president's thinking is behind the times.
"I think, again, the president does not understand that this is a new -- this is a manifestation of a new form of warfare," stated the senator.
The capacity to damage economies and to censor media is more than an act of vandalism, stated McCain. It's the new face of warfare, he said. McCain often is part of the discussion, bringing his perspective as a former prisoner of war. He was detained by the North Vietnamese until 1973 after his plane was shot down over Hanoi in 1967.
"[We] need to react, and react vigorously, including reimposing sanctions that were lifted under the Bush administration, including other actions that will squeeze them more economically," McCain said.
Though Obama hasn't offered specifics on how the U.S. should respond to the Sony attack, which North Korea still denies, a senior White House official has called on the government in Pyongyang to step up and help clean up the fall out.
"If the North Korean government wants to help, they can admit their culpability and compensate Sony for the damages this attack caused," stated the official with the National Security Council.
